'Crouching Tiger' sequel to hit Netflix and theaters simultaneously

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

On that date, Netflix will premiere a feature film -- the sequel to the 2000 hit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" -- at the same time moviegoers can see it in theaters.

The dual release will be the realization of Netflix's long-held goal to let subscribers see films at the same time they're in movie theaters.

Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) has achieved its goal by working directly with the Weinstein Company, the independent studio chaired by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. The studio is producing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend" for both Netflix and the IMAX chain of super-sized theaters.

"The film is to be the first of several major films backed by Netflix to premiere on the same day on the world's leading Internet TV network and in select IMAX theaters globally, giving consumers and exhibitors around the world unparalleled flexibility in how, when and where they enjoy a major motion picture," the companies said in a statement.

Related: New owner for Shrek and DreamWorks Animation?

Netflix did not identify the other films, and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. For now, none of the major Hollywood studios -- like Warner Bros., which like this website is owned by Time Warner, or 20th Century Fox -- appear willing to try a simultaneous streaming and in-theater release.

Such a release would risk the ire of box office partners including AMC and Regal Entertainment that rely on ticket sales.

Executives at Netflix have long been interested in offering films concurrently with their theatrical release. They have portrayed the reigning model -- theaters first, then DVDs, then streaming -- as outdated.

"By the time we could watch a movie in the subscription window, it's a year after it's been in the theater," Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in an interview with CNN earlier this year.

That timing, of course, limits the value of a monthly Netflix subscription.

Defenders of what's known as "windowing" say it maximizes opportunities to recoup financiers' investments in expensive films.

In the interview, Sarandos criticized it as an "antiquated distribution model" and said Netflix was looking at a new model. He compared the idea to the all at once, on-demand release of the drama "House of Cards."

"Maybe in the movie space, we'll do the same thing," he said, "and try to figure out: is there a way that we can, you know, get the movies out there at the same time they're in the theaters? And we'll probably have to make a bet on the programming ourselves to make that work."

Future of media - a custom Flipboard magazine

Indeed, that's what Netflix is doing with "The Green Legend," and it's sure to garner lots of publicity for it.

Sarandos told The New York Times that he hoped the partnership with the Weinsteins and Imax would convince others in Hollywood to strike similar deals.

"What I am hoping is that it will be a proof point that the sky doesn't fall," Sarandos said. "These are two different experiences, like going to a football game and watching a football game on TV."

Earlier this year, in a release that foreshadowed Monday's announcement, Netflix streamed a documentary called "The Square" at the same time it was released in a small number of theaters. But that theatrical release took place primarily so that "The Square" could qualify for Academy Awards consideration.

"The Green Legend" is a different arrangement altogether, with higher stakes for the movie industry. The first "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" earned more than $210 million worldwide.

"The moviegoing experience is evolving quickly and profoundly, and Netflix is unquestionably at the forefront of that movement," Harvey Weinstein said in a statement Monday night.

First Published: September 29, 2014: 11:07 PM ET

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Bank to pay everyone at least a 'living wage'

First Green Bank's "living wage" policy will raise payroll costs, but CEO Kenneth LaRoe said he expects it will make the bank money over time.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

It also will apply to workers' pay.

On Wednesday, 17% of First Green's 66 employees will be getting a raise under the company's new "living wage" program.

Under that policy, no one will be paid less than $30,000 a year, or the hourly equivalent for part-time workers. That means the base pay at the bank will be roughly $14.40 an hour, or nearly double the Florida state minimum wage of $7.93.

"We don't believe in low wages. We don't need them to make money," Kenneth LaRoe, the bank's founder and CEO, told CNNMoney.

His payroll costs will go up, but not by much. LaRoe estimates initially it will cost the bank an additional $16,000 and then about $30,000 by the end of the year.

That's partly because he expects that employees who already make a little more than $30,000 will get larger-than-usual raises during their year-end reviews.

But over time, he believes the new policy will make the bank money by attracting and retaining the best workers.

By next year, LaRoe's goal is for 75% of his employees to earn an income that falls in at least the 90th percentile of pay for their positions and geographic location. In 2016, he wants that to be the case for 85% of his staff.

LaRoe expects to hit those goals in part by eliminating salary caps at the bank.

Until now, he said, if somebody hit the pay ceiling for their position, she couldn't get a raise without a promotion.

"That's just dumb," LaRoe said. "If you've got the best teller in the world, why don't you want to pay them the best wages?"

Imitation is sincerest form of flattery: LaRoe's living wage program is identical to one implemented this past spring by C1 Bank (BNK), another Florida-based business.

Trevor Burgess, C1 Bank's CEO, was raised by a single mother who worked as a secretary.

"I saw firsthand that you need a living wage. My bank was doing quite well. And I had 26 people [all women] who earned under $30,000. It was just the right thing to do," Burgess said.

What determines a living wage: There's no single definition, number or formula for a "living wage." It depends on factors like where you live, how big your household is and whether you're the sole breadwinner. It also depends on what you assume it should be able to pay for.

Most agree, however, that a living wage is very often higher than the minimum wage, especially for adults supporting children.

In arriving at $30,000 for their living-wage base, First Green and C1 Bank relied in part on a calculator created by Amy Glasmeier, a professor of economic geography at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The MIT calculator estimates the minimum needed to cover basic costs such as housing, food, childcare, transportation, medical care and taxes, not including potential government assistance.

Other living-wage and cost-of-living calculators exist, but they each use somewhat different assumptions.

Meanwhile, some cities have passed living wage laws that govern the minimum that employers must pay staff for city-contracted jobs.

Gap and other companies raising their minimum pay

Ikea lifting minimum wage to nearly $11 an hour

Small business owner: Seattle $15 wage plan is unfair to me

Are you a small business owner who has implemented a living-wage policy, or thought about it? We'd love to hear your perspective. Please email us at #YourEconomy.

First Published: September 29, 2014: 6:51 PM ET

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Does Ello have what it takes to be the anti-Facebook?

Fear of missing out is attracting users to invite-only social network Ello.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Ello co-founder Paul Budnitz said requests and approvals for access to the invite-only service were totaling 40,000 per hour. The LGBT community is embracing the site after being kicked off Facebook due to its "real" name policy. That, along with the promise of no advertising, are the reasons why some are calling it the "anti-Facebook."

But maintaining relevancy in a crowded social networking market won't be easy. A cyberattack that prevented users from accessing the site over the weekend is the least of Ello's problems.

Here's why:

It has to appeal to the vast majority -- not just a few loud dissenters.

History is not on Ello's side. Startup App.net, a platform for accessing many social applications on one network, kicked off in 2012 with a manifesto (much like Ello's). App.net founder Dalton Caldwell criticized Twitter (the service it considered itself to be an alternative to) for its ad-supported model. Dalton said Twitter users were the "product" -- the same basis for Ello's critique of Facebook.

App.net never took off.

Related: 6 things you need to know about STEM

It's really just the "vocal few" that take issues with Facebook's design or access to user data, according to Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group. Feeling like a "product" isn't a universally felt complaint.

If a business model isn't broken, can it be fixed?

Unlike Facebook, which makes 90% of its money from advertisements, Ello doesn't sell ads. It plans on making money with a "freemium" model -- users can purchase special features to customize their Ello experience.

Budnitz lashed out at critics, saying it's "so sad" that people won't give Ello's business model a chance.

But free and "ad-free" don't really mix. App.net, which tried that combination, announced in March that it is no longer profitable enough to employ any staff.

FOMO is attracting users to the site -- but what will keep them there?

Ello is being flooded with invite requests, largely because it is in the news, and people have a fear of missing out (FOMO). But FOMO isn't enough to keep users on the site.

Related: Free startup advice from Silicon Valley's best

"As much as we love to hate [Facebook], they've done a really good job on focusing attention," said Solis. "The time spent on Facebook is unheard of -- and its not a fluke."

It's unclear why users will need to spend time on Ello, Solis said.

To Budnitz' credit, the product is still very much in development -- and his ambitions aren't as high as you'd think.

"We are, in fact, a five week old beta," he said. "It's being developed live in front of everyone's eyes."

The Facebook comparisons are "flattering," Budnitz said, but Ello is "not trying to take over the world."

Still, user frustrations, like a buggy-search feature (Budnitz said they've experienced some glitches with this search functionality last week), can have a resounding impact.

"You get one shot at it," said Solis. "If that network is open for beta, then it better be open for scale."

First Published: September 29, 2014: 5:12 PM ET

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PayPal now lets shops accept Bitcoin

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

This week, the payment processing company PayPal took its first venture into the world of all-digital money.

Merchants that work with eBay's (EBAY, Tech30) PayPal can now easily start accepting payments from customers that use Bitcoin (XBT), an independent, government-less currency.

PayPal struck a deal with three Bitcoin payment-processing companies: BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin.

Related: What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is an Internet-based system of money specifically designed to cut out middlemen, like banks and governments. So, it sounds odd to have Bitcoin processors. But they make it easier for everyday, non-tech-savvy businesses to accept bitcoins -- and immediately convert them to cash.

But why take bitcoins -- which have fluctuated in price from $1,100 and $400 in the last year -- instead of proven government money?

The system offers much lower transaction fees, which cost businesses a huge amount of money. The 2%-3% that shops pay in credit card swiping fees can obliterate their profits.

Consider this PayPal's first -- but not last -- foray into the world of Bitcoin. The company has made clear that its interest in Bitcoin runs more than skin deep.

In the last year, eBay's two top executives -- CEO John Donahoe and former president David Marcus -- have expressed interest in Bitcoin's technology.

Related: Here's why Bitcoin matters

PayPal's senior director of corporate strategy, Scott Ellison, told CNNMoney the company is most intrigued by the potential to harness the technology that lies at the heart of the Bitcoin system, a public ledger called a blockchain. It's a totally new way of thinking about transactions. It keeps records that are decentralized and keeps users semi-anonymous while making their transactions public.

"We think Bitcoin has tremendous opportunities going forward," Ellison said. "If you really want to understand how a technology works, you need to actually be in that technological space yourself."

Ellison said the move integrating Bitcoin into PayPal is a continuation of the company's view of itself as "the original payment disruptors."

Jose Pagliery is the author of Bitcoin - And the Future of Money (Triumph Books, Chicago).

First Published: September 26, 2014: 6:15 PM ET

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How iPhone apps could impact your insurance

Apple's new Health app in action.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

As part of Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) new mobile operating system, developers can build apps that measure things like heart rate, sleep, weight and blood pressure. If users choose to do so, they can then send that information to doctors for medical advice.

Health insurers, which are barred by Obamacare from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, can't base their decisions on this kind of information. But the situation is different for life insurers, who use medical records to make decisions about the relative risks of prospective customers.

"If I'm an insurance company, I'd want access to everything, all the data points, so I can make an informed business decision," said Bradley Shear, a lawyer who works on digital privacy issues.

Related: Apple fixes software bug in iPhone 6

Life insurers take all kinds of information into account as they make policy decisions: age, medical history, occupation, and whether you're a smoker, just to name a few. Whether and how health app data might figure into these decisions remains an open question.

"We don't traffic in hypotheticals," said Jack Dolan, a spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurers. "We have to underwrite using reliable information and sound actuarial principles."

But it's not hard to imagine how data like weight and blood pressure could figure into these calculations.

"If you lose a lot of weight in a short period of time, that may be an indication that you've got a health condition," Shear said.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

The insurance industry has already found ways of using tracking data in other contexts.

So-called "usage-based insurance," for example, is a fast-growing segment of the auto insurance market. With UBI, drivers agree to install devices from insurers that measure things like location, speed, miles driven and airbag deployment to help calculate rates.

There's also the possibility of health information being sought by plaintiffs in civil cases. Location data from toll tags like E-ZPass, for example, has previously been used in divorce proceedings.

Related: 6 things to love -- and hate -- about the iPhone 6

Of course, none of this means that you shouldn't share digital health information with your doctor, or that the information will be shared without your consent. But it's one more issue to be mindful of as more and more of our lives are tracked online.

"Doctors want this information, patients want this information and we're seeing safeguards put in place to show consumers how and when that information becomes part of your medical record," said Gerard Stegmaier, a privacy expert with the law firm Goodwin Procter. "It's a brave new world where we're going to have to figure things out as we go along."

First Published: September 26, 2014: 6:11 PM ET

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Hello Ello (Peace out, Facebook!)

Ello doesn't require your picture or your name to sign up.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Earlier this month, the social media giant made headlines for suspending the accounts of several gay and transgender entertainers. The rationale? The accounts weren't in the holders' "real" names.

"The more they know about you, the more money they make," said Ello co-founder Paul Budnitz regarding Facebook. "I, quite frankly, don't care."

The platform, which is still in beta, launched just over a month ago with roughly 90 people and is still invite-only. This week, the site has seen an incredible surge in the amount of invite requests. He didn't specify the total number, but said that requests and approvals together often totaled 40,000 an hour.

Budnitz said they didn't expect the site to grow so quickly and are still developing its features. (He acknowledged this could mean a little bit of downtime).

Related: Free startup advice from Silicon Valley's best

According to Budnitz, Ello has "really been embraced by the LBGT community," as well as artists and performers.

Ello wants its users to feel more like people and less like data points. Users are free to be whoever they want so long as they abide by basic rules, like no bestiality or impersonation of public figures, according to Budnitz.

To join, all you need is an invite from a friend and an email address.

"We're not geo-locating, we're stripping IP addresses, we don't ask your name, your gender or sexual orientation. All I care about is that you obey the rules of Ello," said Budnitz, who is one of its seven founders.

About a year ago, they started the platform as a private social network for friends of friends to share their artwork and communicate. Eventually, they had 1,000 friends of friends who wanted in to the network, so they decided to open up the circle.

Related: 6 designers shaking up fashion

They received a $435,000 seed investment from FreshTracks Capital, a Vermont-based VC firm. (Budnitz also lives in Vermont, but other founders are located in Colorado.)

But how does a non-ad supported platform survive once the funding runs dry?

"Isn't it just so sad? Rather than cheering on a new model that actually makes things better, people have to say, 'You can't change things,'" said Budnitz. "Our business model is really simple, and proven. It's like an app store."

By that, Budnitz means they'll upsell users on special features to customize their Ello experience -- and he's confident that he'll be able to monetize the platform this way.

"We literally have thousands of people writing to us with feature suggestions, saying: these are the things I'd pay for."

The top request so far? People wanting to control a professional and personal profile with one log-in. Budnitz says they're likely to roll that out in the future and charge a one-time fee of $2.

First Published: September 26, 2014: 6:43 PM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

How iPhone apps could impact your insurance

Apple's new Health app in action.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

As part of Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) new mobile operating system, developers can build apps that measure things like heart rate, sleep, weight and blood pressure. If users choose to do so, they can then send that information to doctors for medical advice.

Health insurers, which are barred by Obamacare from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, can't base their decisions on this kind of information. But the situation is different for life insurers, who use medical records to make decisions about the relative risks of prospective customers.

"If I'm an insurance company, I'd want access to everything, all the data points, so I can make an informed business decision," said Bradley Shear, a lawyer who works on digital privacy issues.

Related: Apple fixes software bug in iPhone 6

Life insurers take all kinds of information into account as they make policy decisions: age, medical history, occupation, and whether you're a smoker, just to name a few. Whether and how health app data might figure into these decisions remains an open question.

"We don't traffic in hypotheticals," said Jack Dolan, a spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurers. "We have to underwrite using reliable information and sound actuarial principles."

But it's not hard to imagine how data like weight and blood pressure could figure into these calculations.

"If you lose a lot of weight in a short period of time, that may be an indication that you've got a health condition," Shear said.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

The insurance industry has already found ways of using tracking data in other contexts.

So-called "usage-based insurance," for example, is a fast-growing segment of the auto insurance market. With UBI, drivers agree to install devices from insurers that measure things like location, speed, miles driven and airbag deployment to help calculate rates.

There's also the possibility of health information being sought by plaintiffs in civil cases. Location data from toll tags like E-ZPass, for example, has previously been used in divorce proceedings.

Related: 6 things to love -- and hate -- about the iPhone 6

Of course, none of this means that you shouldn't share digital health information with your doctor, or that the information will be shared without your consent. But it's one more issue to be mindful of as more and more of our lives are tracked online.

"Doctors want this information, patients want this information and we're seeing safeguards put in place to show consumers how and when that information becomes part of your medical record," said Gerard Stegmaier, a privacy expert with the law firm Goodwin Procter. "It's a brave new world where we're going to have to figure things out as we go along."

First Published: September 26, 2014: 6:11 PM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

PayPal now lets shops accept Bitcoin

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

This week, the payment processing company PayPal took its first venture into the world of all-digital money.

Merchants that work with eBay's (EBAY, Tech30) PayPal can now easily start accepting payments from customers that use Bitcoin (XBT), an independent, government-less currency.

PayPal struck a deal with three Bitcoin payment-processing companies: BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin.

Related: What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is an Internet-based system of money specifically designed to cut out middlemen, like banks and governments. So, it sounds odd to have Bitcoin processors. But they make it easier for everyday, non-tech-savvy businesses to accept bitcoins -- and immediately convert them to cash.

But why take bitcoins -- which have fluctuated in price from $1,100 and $400 in the last year -- instead of proven government money?

The system offers much lower transaction fees, which cost businesses a huge amount of money. The 2%-3% that shops pay in credit card swiping fees can obliterate their profits.

Consider this PayPal's first -- but not last -- foray into the world of Bitcoin. The company has made clear that its interest in Bitcoin runs more than skin deep.

In the last year, eBay's two top executives -- CEO John Donahoe and former president David Marcus -- have expressed interest in Bitcoin's technology.

Related: Here's why Bitcoin matters

PayPal's senior director of corporate strategy, Scott Ellison, told CNNMoney the company is most intrigued by the potential to harness the technology that lies at the heart of the Bitcoin system, a public ledger called a blockchain. It's a totally new way of thinking about transactions. It keeps records that are decentralized and keeps users semi-anonymous while making their transactions public.

"We think Bitcoin has tremendous opportunities going forward," Ellison said. "If you really want to understand how a technology works, you need to actually be in that technological space yourself."

Ellison said the move integrating Bitcoin into PayPal is a continuation of the company's view of itself as "the original payment disruptors."

Jose Pagliery is the author of Bitcoin - And the Future of Money (Triumph Books, Chicago).

First Published: September 26, 2014: 6:15 PM ET

14.44 | 1 komentar | Read More

Hello Ello (Peace out, Facebook!)

Ello doesn't require your picture or your name to sign up.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Earlier this month, the social media giant made headlines for suspending the accounts of several gay and transgender entertainers. The rationale? The accounts weren't in the holders' "real" names.

"The more they know about you, the more money they make," said Ello co-founder Paul Budnitz regarding Facebook. "I, quite frankly, don't care."

The platform, which is still in beta, launched just over a month ago with roughly 90 people and is still invite-only. This week, the site has seen an incredible surge in the amount of invite requests. He didn't specify the total number, but said that requests and approvals together often totaled 40,000 an hour.

Budnitz said they didn't expect the site to grow so quickly and are still developing its features. (He acknowledged this could mean a little bit of downtime).

Related: Free startup advice from Silicon Valley's best

According to Budnitz, Ello has "really been embraced by the LBGT community," as well as artists and performers.

Ello wants its users to feel more like people and less like data points. Users are free to be whoever they want so long as they abide by basic rules, like no bestiality or impersonation of public figures, according to Budnitz.

To join, all you need is an invite from a friend and an email address.

"We're not geo-locating, we're stripping IP addresses, we don't ask your name, your gender or sexual orientation. All I care about is that you obey the rules of Ello," said Budnitz, who is one of its seven founders.

About a year ago, they started the platform as a private social network for friends of friends to share their artwork and communicate. Eventually, they had 1,000 friends of friends who wanted in to the network, so they decided to open up the circle.

Related: 6 designers shaking up fashion

They received a $435,000 seed investment from FreshTracks Capital, a Vermont-based VC firm. (Budnitz also lives in Vermont, but other founders are located in Colorado.)

But how does a non-ad supported platform survive once the funding runs dry?

"Isn't it just so sad? Rather than cheering on a new model that actually makes things better, people have to say, 'You can't change things,'" said Budnitz. "Our business model is really simple, and proven. It's like an app store."

By that, Budnitz means they'll upsell users on special features to customize their Ello experience -- and he's confident that he'll be able to monetize the platform this way.

"We literally have thousands of people writing to us with feature suggestions, saying: these are the things I'd pay for."

The top request so far? People wanting to control a professional and personal profile with one log-in. Budnitz says they're likely to roll that out in the future and charge a one-time fee of $2.

First Published: September 26, 2014: 6:43 PM ET

14.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

ESPN suspends Bill Simmons for three weeks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"Every employee must be accountable to ESPN and those engaged in our editorial operations must also operate within ESPN's journalistic standards," the sports network said in a statement.

"We have worked hard to ensure that our recent NFL coverage has met that criteria," the network said. "Bill Simmons did not meet those obligations in a recent podcast, and as a result we have suspended him for three weeks."

The suspension apparently extended to Simmons' social media accounts -- he did not immediately comment on the network's decision. But his fans complained en masse, making the #FreeSimmons hashtag a trending topic on Twitter on Wednesday evening.

Related: Conundrum for networks: covering NFL news

On a podcast on Tuesday, Simmons was outspoken about Goodell's handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence scandal. He repeatedly labeled Goodell a "liar" and used expletives to express doubt that other league executives didn't know about the content of the elevator video released by TMZ earlier this month. In the video, Rice was shown striking his now-wife.

During what was widely described as a rant, Simmons also said that if ESPN called or e-mailed him to chastise him for his opinions, "I'm going public."

"You leave me alone," he said, seemingly referring to ESPN, which has employed him since 2001. "The commissioner is a liar, and I get to talk about that on my podcast. Please, call me and say I'm in trouble, I dare you."

There was immediate speculation that ESPN might take action, and on Wednesday, it did. Simmons' implied references to his bosses ("you leave me alone," etcetera) seemed to exacerbate the issue.

Wednesday's action is not the first time that ESPN has suspended Simmons, who is the editor in chief of the ESPN web site Grantland and a contributor to telecasts of "NBA Countdown." He is a vital, vocal, and popular voice for the network -- and a controversial one, as well.

In 2009, he was reportedly suspended from Twitter for two weeks for criticizing ESPN radio affiliate WEEI.

And last year he was suspended after ridiculing ESPN's "First Take" -- he had called a segment between Skip Bayless and Seattle Seahawks' cornerback Richard Sherman "an embarrassment."

ESPN is controlled by The Walt Disney Company.

First Published: September 24, 2014: 7:59 PM ET

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Bay Area restaurant: "Hate us on Yelp"

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The stunt is the owners' quest to subvert the online review site's ratings system and garner publicity, following a dispute.

The whole thing started two years ago, when Davide Cerretini and his business partner Michele Massimo bought some ads on the site after caving-in to what they said were numerous calls from its ad sales staff. The owners of the Richmond, California eatery dropped the ads only a few months later, unsatisfied with the results.

Related: Darden investor wants better food at Olive Garden

Then they tried to get the restaurant taken off the site, annoyed Yelp could make money from competitors buying ads that would appear on their restaurant's listing. But Yelp says to remove a company listing is against its policy. Local advertising accounts for 85% of the company's net revenue, according to its most recent financial report.

"If Yelpers come to Yelp looking for Italian restaurants, we will provide the top 10 Italian restaurants by reviews," said Vince Sollitto, Yelps communications head. "And we will sell an ad to a similar business that wants to be considered."

So instead of playing along with Yelp's rules, Cerretini decided about six months ago to drum up some publicity by sabotaging his own company. He offered customers 25% off a pizza if they wrote a negative review.

Related: Yelp is one of six hot tech company Goldman Sachs likes

"We promised to our loyal customers that we were going to be the worst restaurant on Yelp, and here you have it," reads the restaurant's website.

The ruse worked out as planned when website Radio Free Richmond (and now CNNMoney) wrote about the practice. The story went viral and negative ads starting pouring in.

A screenshot David Cerretini took of Botto Bistro's Yelp listing

At last count Botto Bistro had more than 1,000 one-star reviews on Yelp, not counting the ones the site removed for violating its terms of service. He said he stopped the offer on Sunday, printed out a screen shot of his one-star rating and placed it on his desk.

"I'm using them the way they were using me," he said.

Related: MyRedbook was the sex workers' Yelp before feds shut it down

The cheap publicity -- Cerretini said few customers actually took him up on the offer -- was a boon for the restaurant. He said he's hired five new staff members to deal with all the new traffic.

Yelp defends its practices and says Botto Bistro's page is staying up, no matter how much they dislike and sabotage it. The company said it will consider adding the restaurant to its next batch of consumer alerts targeting fraudulent reviews.

Cerretini couldn't care less.

"My business doesn't need to prove anything to anybody," he said.

First Published: September 24, 2014: 9:16 PM ET

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India's $74 million Mars mission cost less than 'Gravity' movie

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

But the mission's shoestring budget was perhaps its most notable distinction: At a cost of just $74 million, India's space agency put the satellite into orbit for a fraction of what other nations have spent.

The U.S. Maven satellite, for example, arrived in orbit on Sunday in a mission that cost taxpayers $671 million. The European Space Agency's 2003 mission to Mars had an initial budget of nearly $200 million.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has noted that even the Hollywood thriller "Gravity" had a larger budget at $100 million.

"Our scientists have shown the world, a new paradigm of frugal engineering, and the power of Imagination," Modi said in June. "This success of ours has deep historical roots."

While some critics take issue with the government's use of public funds on space exploration instead of social, Modi now has yet another space triumph to tout. Only the U.S., Russia and Europe have successfully executed Mars missions; China and Japan have failed.

It's difficult to overstate just how little money the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has to work with. The agency's annual budget for this fiscal year is only $1.2 billion, while NASA has a budget of around $17.5 billion.

Related: Boeing, Space X land NASA contracts

ISRO is able to save money by using short development cycles, and taking advantage of India's cheap labor market. Highly-skilled aerospace engineers in the country might receive a salary of $1,000 per month, a fraction of what the same workers would be paid in Europe or the U.S.

Despite the large disparity in total spending, India actually devotes a similar share of its total budget to its space agency -- around 0.4% --- as the U.S.

The glory days for NASA, however, are long gone. As the space race reached a fever pitch in 1966, the agency was allotted an incredible 4.4% of the U.S. budget, a share that today's explorers can only dream of.

First Published: September 25, 2014: 12:38 AM ET

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Why Hollywood's dismal summer won't matter

Disney and Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" was one of Hollywood's lone successes from this past summer. Next year should tell a different story.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The film industry just came off its worst North American summer movie season in 17 years, a slumping summer that saw the U.S. box office down 20% from the year before.

However, looking ahead to next summer's box office, there's much to look forward to -- and that's surely what studio executives will emphasize when they report third quarter earnings in the coming weeks.

Here are four reasons why 2015 will make this year's summer movie slump an aberration:

1."Fast & Furious 7" and "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" are good starts: The first films of the season can tell a lot about how the summer will go.

The two opening films of last summer were "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (which came out in April) and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."

Disney and Marvel's "Winter Soldier" was a critical and commercial success, but the same couldn't be said for Spidey.

Opening on May 2, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" underperformed domestically ($202 million overall), was panned by critics (it holds a 53% rotten score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes), and has the lowest box office haul in the series.

Next summer should be different, with two of 2015's most anticipated films opening the season.

"Fast & Furious 7" returns after the death of Paul Walker on April 3 then Disney and Marvel's "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" opens the "official" summer on May 1.

These two franchises have shown they can break the box office ("Fast & Furious 6" and "The Avengers" have combined for over $850 million domestically), so 2015 should set a strong tone early on.

2. Family films return to the fold: One of the major things lacking in 2014's summer was a supply of hit family films.

Pixar, a usual pillar of the summer schedule, released no original film in the summertime for the first time since 2005.

Instead, the studio's "The Good Dinosaur" was pushed to November leaving only DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" and Pixar's "Planes: Fire and Rescue" (a film that was originally slated for a direct-to-video release).

The former was a box office hit, bringing in $175 million, while the latter never really took off, grossing only $58 million.

Next year, DreamWorks Animation releases the "Despicable Me" spin-off "The Minions" and Pixar returns for a journey into a little girl's mind with "Inside Out."

Both should fill the box office void that was left by a lack of family fare this past summer.

3. Familiar -- but not stale -- franchises will make up the landscape: Some analysts argued that the summer suffered from too many familiar franchises.

"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" came out two years after "The Amazing Spider-Man," which had been rebooted just five years after "Spider-Man 3." "Hercules" and "The Legend of Hercules" -- two different films with the same basic story -- were released no more than six months apart.

2015 will include many names from past summers, too, but in exciting new ways.

"Jurassic Park" sequel "Jurassic World" adds Chris Pratt hot off his "Guardians of the Galaxy" success, "Mad Max" gets a complete reboot with "Mad Max: Fury Road," and sequels to fresh fan favorite comedies like "Pitch Perfect" and "Ted" will also be released.

4. This fall should be strong: Executives need not look far into the future to have hope. A number of big titles are just weeks away: Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey's heavily anticipated "Interstellar," for instance, blasts off on November 7 for Paramount.

The next film in Lionsgate's $1.5 billion "Hunger Games" series, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" shoots into theaters two weeks later on November 21.

And "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" finishes out Peter Jackson's multi-billion dollar "Hobbit" franchise for Warner Bros. right before the holidays on December 17.

So while the summer was one of Hollywood's worst, the fall should heal some of summer's wounds.

Related: Summer bummer: Hollywood suffers big slump

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First Published: September 23, 2014: 4:44 PM ET

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Crazy corporate tax loopholes? 'Inversions' are small potatoes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Few argue that the loopholes that encourage such tax-driven mergers with foreign companies are fine and dandy. In fact, many lawmakers and tax experts wouldn't mind seeing them closed.

But inversions are relatively small potatoes compared to other tax breaks companies enjoy.

Before the Treasury came out with new rules on Monday, the Joint Committee on Taxation had estimated that U.S. companies that invert could cost federal coffers about $20 billion in lost revenue over the next decade.

Compare that to the roughly $400 billion it will cost over the same decade if lawmakers choose to re-up the "temporary" corporate tax breaks that expire every few years and are regularly extended, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Not every corporate tax break is bad. Far from it.

But some are dumb; others are mistargeted or engineered by special interests. And some, like those companies can exploit when inverting, are used in ways lawmakers never intended.

Take the domestic manufacturing deduction. It's one of the most expensive tax breaks available to corporations, costing close to $80 billion over five years. It lets companies deduct a percent of the cost of certain manufacturing expenses.

Related: 7 things you must know about corporate taxes

Come tax time, it's amazing how many companies fancy themselves manufacturers. Movie makers and fast-food hamburger makers can qualify apparently.

Or consider the many strategies available to a U.S.-based multinational when it wants to lower its tax bill, even while it remains headquartered in the United States.

The one that's gotten a lot of attention is profit-shifting. This can happen when a U.S. company shares the cost of its research and development with one of its foreign subsidiaries based in a low-tax country.

In exchange, the subsidiary shares in the profits that result from the products born of that R&D, which is usually conducted on U.S. soil.

What troubles tax experts is when the the low-taxed foreign subsidiary books profits that are far higher relative to its investment than those reported by the U.S. branch.

Then there are very industry-specific tax breaks, the broad economic benefits of which are, um, not at all clear. In fact, Howard Gleckman, editor of the blog TaxVox, calls them "giveaways."

In his book, these include subsidies for energy production, credit unions and corporate-owned life insurance. Also on the list: an accelerated depreciation schedule (7 years) for the cost of building or improving NASCAR racetracks and related facilities. Another is a special break for Puerto Rican rum manufacturers.

Bottom line: Addressing inversions barely scratches the surface of the real work that has to be done to clean up the corporate tax code.

Maybe next year.

First Published: September 23, 2014: 4:46 PM ET

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Stolen Jaguar returned to owner 46 years later

U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection officers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach seized five cars last month including a 1967 Jaguar XKE stolen in New York City 46 Years ago.

LOS ANGELES (CNNMoney)

Schneider was 36 and a young New York trial attorney when he bought the brand new 1967 convertible Jaguar for $5,000 as a treat to himself for winning a big case. He had it less than a year when it was stolen during the middle of the night from outside his Manhattan apartment in March 1968.

"I went downstairs and it was gone. I walked up and down Madison Avenue, then up and down 5th Avenue, and it wasn't there," Schneider said. "I was devastated."

Schneider thought his prized possession was gone forever.

That is, until officials recovered it this year during a routine inspection on the West Coast.

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"I would tell stories about this great car that got stolen, I bought a Corvette after it was taken" Schneider said. "I have had a lot of great cars since then, but none has been as pretty."

Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other law enforcement agencies recovered the Jaguar and seized four other stolen automobiles after they passed through the Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, port complex.

Ivan Schneider, 82, gets to peek at his 1967 Jaguar XKE, which he last saw in 1968.

So much time has passed since the car was stolen that, much like its original owner who is now 82 years old and living in Miami Beach, Florida, the car has aged. Its bullet gray paint job has now faded to near white.

The two-door 1967 Jaguar XKE convertible was discovered in a container that was going to The Netherlands, authorities said.

They checked the vehicle identification number, which is standard operating procedure for cars being shipped out of the U.S., and when authorities identified it as stolen, they directed the carrier already in route with the Jaguar to turn around.

Gallery: Jaguar unveils its new entry-level XE sedan to go up against BMW and Mercedes

Schneider was in disbelief when he got the call that his Jag had been recovered after all these decades.

"I thought they were kidding me, who would think a car would show up 45 years later. When I found out they weren't, I was thrilled," he said.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long beach is the busiest shipping complex in the United States and custom officials there recover about 250 stolen vehicles per year, according to Larios.

The Jaguar has certainly lost some of its luster since its owner last saw it: The sports car is rusty and scratched and has a mismatched brown door.

In its present condition, it's worth about $23,000. If it were in pristine condition, it could fetch $100,000, according to federal customs estimates.

Schneider says he hopes to bring the car back to its glory.

"I am going to fix it up make it as good as I can," said Schneider.

He estimates the restoration to cost between $50,000 and $75,000.

Schneider is still waiting for word on when he will be reunited with his Jaguar, but is itching to get back behind the wheel.

"I will drive it for an hour a week. I have other cars, I will use this one as a toy," he said.

Schneider won't be the only one getting back his stolen car. Other recovered vehicles include a 1969 Corvette taken during a burglary in Portland 26 years ago, a 1976 Mercedes 280, a 2007 Mercedes E350, and a 2014 Camaro ZL1, officials said.

Cool cars: Hot wheels and good deals

First Published: September 23, 2014: 5:04 PM ET

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Student homelessness hits another record high

Homelessness is a growing problem for children in U.S. public schools.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Approximately 1.3 million students enrolled in U.S. public preschools, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools schools were homeless during the 2012-13 school year.

That's up 8% from the prior year, and the highest number on record, according to the National Center for Homeless Education, funded by the Department of Education.

A lack of affordable housing is a big reason, forcing many families to live in the streets, shelters, motels or to double up with other families, said Jeremy Rosen, director of advocacy at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

"This problem continues to get worse because in terms of government programs and support for homelessness, budgets have been cut in recent years, and there's less affordable housing available," said Rosen.

Related: Stylist gives free haircuts to the homeless

Another reason for the big jump: Improvements in how the homeless are counted, said Rosen.

Homelessness is an extremely difficult thing to quantify, and in this case, it's up to school employees -- from teachers to bus drivers -- to identify students who are homeless. Many children who are homeless don't want anyone to know about their situation -- out of embarrassment or fright that they will be taken from their parents -- so the actual number could be a lot higher.

Related: It's 'illegal to be homeless' in a growing number of cities

Even without a concrete number, however, it's clear to homeless advocates through the conversations they have with struggling families every day that the problem is only growing and that the economic recovery is still lagging for many of the people who were impacted the most during the downturn.

"The families hardest hit by the recession have not yet felt the 'recovery,'" said Barbara Duffield, Policy Director of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth.

First Published: September 22, 2014: 7:15 PM ET

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Ferrari recalls 3000 cars for entrapment danger

Ferrari is recalling over 3,000 Ferrari 458 sports cars because people could be trapped in the front trunk.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Since the engine is mounted behind the seats, the "trunk" in these cars is in the front.

According to U.S. safety regulations, there must be a way to open the trunk of a car from the inside. This helps prevent children -- or anyone -- from getting trapped inside. Usually this is done with a handle that can be pulled inside the trunk.

Car hoods, unlike normal trunks, have two latches. There's the one that users typically release from inside the cabin and a second that is released from outside while standing in front of the car. The dual latch system is a safety feature intended to keep the trunk from flying open if it hasn't been closed fully. It's the same with the Ferrari's front trunk lid.

Gallery: Ferrari 458 Speciale - Raw speed

But, in these cars, the inside-the-trunk handle only releases the first latch. This allows the lid to be opened just slightly, far enough to prevent suffocation and allow someone to call for help, according to Ferrari.

The second latch -- the one that, when released, allows the lid to be raised fully -- can't be unlatched from inside.

Regulations require that someone be able to exit the trunk on their own.

Ferrari will notify owners of the cars involved in the recall. Ferrari dealers will then modify the parts involved so that the latch will work to open the front trunk all the way.

The models involved in the recall are the Ferrari 458 Italia and 458 Spider. The 458 Speciale, a track-oriented high-performance version of the car, is not part of this recall. Prices for the 458 Italia start at about $230,000 and, for the Spider, at about $250,000. Both the 458 Spider and Italia are powered by 570 horsepower V8 engines.

Ferrari recently announced that it is increasing car production to better serve the needs of its ultra-wealthy customers.

Cool cars: Hot wheels and good deals

First Published: September 22, 2014: 5:36 PM ET

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Treasury acts to stop overseas tax 'inversions'

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said he was taking the "first, targeted steps" against companies that use foreign mergers to reduce their U.S. tax bills.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The process, known as inversion, has been all the rage in the corporate world this year.

The Obama administration, while urging Congress to act, had been threatening for months to crack down on inversions.

What Treasury did on Monday was issue tax guidance that will govern any inversion completed from today forward. It also imposed at least one new restriction that will affect companies that have recently inverted.

"These first, targeted steps make substantial progress in constraining the creative techniques used to avoid U.S. taxes," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said.

The changes Treasury announced will make it harder for a U.S. company seeking inversion to escape paying U.S. tax on foreign earnings they have already made. For instance:

No more playing 'hopscotch': Companies only have to pay U.S. tax on their foreign earnings when they bring them back to the United States.

But inverted companies can get around this rule by having a foreign subsidiary it controls make a "hopscotch" loan to the new foreign parent instead of to the U.S. company.

Treasury will now consider such loans as "U.S. property" in many instances and treat the money as a taxable dividend.

In addition, the new rules will make it harder to check all the boxes necessary to complete a successful inversion in the first place. Two examples:

No more slimming down the U.S. company: In order to successfully invert, the U.S. partner must own less than 80% of the merged company. Treasury's new rules will make it a little harder to stay under that threshold.

Here's how: Sometimes U.S. companies will pay out large dividends just before inverting. That essentially shrinks their size.

Under the new rules, however, such pre-deal dividend payouts won't be counted for the purposes of the ownership requirement.

And no more fattening up the foreign partner: Likewise, the foreign partner's size may be increased by the inclusion of its "passive assets" -- money that isn't used for business operations, such as securities the firm owns.

From today on, though, Treasury will disregard those passive assets when tallying the size of the foreign partner (in cases when the passive assets make up at least half of the company's total assets).

One exemption: This revised rule will not apply to banks and financial service companies.

Is there more to come from Treasury? Overall, Monday's rule changes are aimed at stopping companies from using inversions to reduce taxes on foreign earnings they have already made.

But inverted companies can also cut their tax bills on future earnings through "earnings stripping," noted Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Earnings stripping can work like this: The foreign parent makes a large loan to the U.S. subsidiary. The interest on that loan is deductible, and those deductions can largely offset -- and even wipe out -- the taxes the company owes Uncle Sam.

Treasury officials have indicated they may target that technique in later rule changes.

Congress not expected to act: The push to curb inversions has been driven primarily by Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. President Obama and others have suggested that a U.S. company that moves its domicile abroad primarily for tax purposes is "unpatriotic."

Some high-ranking Democrats, such as Senators Charles Schumer and Carl Levin, have introduced legislation to curb inversions.

But few analysts think Congress will enact those measures this year.

And no one expects Congress to embark on comprehensive business tax reform before next year at the earliest.

7 things you absolutely must know about corporate taxes

Burger King buying Tim Hortons

How companies shrink their taxes by leaving U.S.

First Published: September 22, 2014: 6:36 PM ET

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Climate protesters to 'flood' Wall Street on Monday

Activists say Wall Street Capitalism is fueling the climate crisis.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The #FloodWallStreet campaign is part of a series of demonstrations taking place this week as world leaders gather in New York for a climate change summit on Tuesday at the United Nations.

The goal is to highlight "a financial system that's perpetuating the climate crisis," said Bessie Schwarz, a spokeswoman for the group behind the #FloodWallStreet campaign.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets Sunday in New York as part of the People's Climate March, which organizers said was the largest climate change demonstration ever.

"One day after the biggest climate march ever, we plan to take this energy down to Wall Street," said Schwarz, who was reached while taking part in Sunday's protest.

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On Monday protesters will decry the "financial profiteering" they say is exacerbating the climate crisis.

While no specific companies are being targeted, the movement is broadly aimed at "polluters and those profiting from the fossil fuel industry."

Organizers expect anywhere from a few hundred to more than a thousand people to take part in Monday's event.

The plan is for people to gather at Battery Park in lower Manhattan early Monday, then march to Wall Street where they "will stay until forcibly removed," said Schwarz.

Related: Hey Occupy Wall Street, abolish my debt too!

Organizers expect participants to be "arrested in droves" as they stage "sit-ins" around New York City's financial district. Blue-clad protesters plan to unfurl a 300-foot banner and will inflate a 15 foot "carbon bubble," according to a statement on the #FloodWallStreet website.

The New York Police Department said it would have "an adequate detail in place" to respond.

Schwarz said the demonstration will feature speeches by a number of well-known climate change activists, as well as local New York residents who were affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Related: Insurer invests $1B to fight global warming

The UN is not expected to announce any concrete agreements this week. But officials hope Tuesday's meeting will create momentum for greater action on climate change at a summit next year.

The White House released a report in May asserting that climate change is real and will only worsen over time.

The National Climate Assessment said evidence of human-made climate change "continues to strengthen" and predicted that flooding, wildfires and drought will intensify if nothing is done to curb emissions of greenhouse gases.

A campaign backed by the fossil fuel industry and its allies challenges whether climate change is real, and if so, whether human activity such as increased carbon emissions from power plants, factories and cars contributes to it.

First Published: September 21, 2014: 4:39 PM ET

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Ravens spend 'six figures' on Ray Rice jersey swap

A one-time Ray Rice fan waits in line to exchange jerseys.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Ravens said earlier this month that fans could trade in official jerseys with Rice's name and number after the running back was cut from the team and suspended indefinitely from the NFL for spousal abuse.

More than 7,000 people went to Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium on Friday and Saturday to take part in the exchange, according to Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne.

The team gave away 5,595 jerseys before running out of inventory. After that, the Ravens offered fans 2,400 vouchers for jerseys that can be picked up once the team gets more.

Byrne confirmed the team's costs for the exchange ran into "six figures," but he declined to be more precise.

Related: NFL's biggest sponsor backs Roger Goodell

The jerseys will be donated to a company that deals in scrap material, according to Byrne.

The Ravens cut Rice from its lineup on September 8 after video surfaced of him attacking his then-fiancee in an elevator. The NFL has also come under harsh criticism for its handling of the episode, which has sparked a national conversation about domestic abuse by professional athletes.

Rice has also been dropped by top sponsors and lost major endorsement deals, including contracts with Nike (NKE) and EA (EA, Tech30). Some sports retailers have also pulled Rice jerseys from their shelves.

The backlash has been particularly strong in Baltimore, where local businesses have offered to exchange Rice jerseys for discounts.

Related: NFL scores huge ratings despite scandals

One local pizza parlor, for example, offered customers a free pizza in exchange for a Rice jersey, which the owners suggested could be used as toilet paper.

First Published: September 21, 2014: 12:02 PM ET

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For rich people, mortgages are getting cheaper and easier

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Not only are big-pocketed borrowers paying lower average rates on the high dollar value loans known as jumbo mortgages, but lenders are now requiring even smaller down payments -- and, in some cases, they are waiving the mortgage insurance, too.

For months, lenders of jumbo mortgages have been charging interest rates that are lower than what average borrowers pay.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that the average rate on jumbo loans -- mortgages of $417,000 or more (or $625,500-plus in high priced markets) -- was 4.24% last week, compared with 4.36% for conventional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages.

And now some lenders have reduced the required down payments on these loans to as little as 10%, down from 20%, according to Tom Wind, executive vice president of home lending for EverBank.

In some cases, these lenders may not even require jumbo loan borrowers to purchase private mortgage insurance -- a prerequisite for almost anyone who takes out a low down payment loan.

Quiz: How much do you know about mortgages?

Banks have even lowered the credit standards they use to underwrite these jumbo loans, according to John Walsh, owner of lender Total Mortgage Services.

During the past several years, most jumbo borrowers needed at least a 700 credit score to get a loan. But now lenders are giving loans to borrowers with credit scores of as low as 650.

"That was unheard of 12 months ago," said Walsh.

So why are banks cutting these borrowers such a big break?

According to Malcolm Hollensteiner, head of retail lending for TD Bank, banks want jumbo loan customers not so much for the profits the loans generate, but to win new clients for other bank services such as brokerage services or retirement planning.

Keeping jumbo loans on their books is a very "sticky" way to do that, he said.

Related: Mansions for under $1 million

For lenders, giving a loan to someone with a lower credit score, or with less money down, is also a gamble worth taking. Big loan borrowers have better track records when it comes to repaying their loans and they default at a much lower rate, said Wind.

Plus, many of the highest priced housing markets, like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C., are going strong. And when home prices are stable or rising in an area, it lowers the risk that a borrower will default.

Even if borrowers stop paying, rising home values mean most or all of the loan balances can be recouped in foreclosure.

First Published: September 21, 2014: 5:02 PM ET

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Friday Links

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

A weekly collection of design, data and interactive links.

Video
Butter Fingers | Items you might not want to let slip through your fingers
The Sound of COS | Experience the sound of COS in a short film by Lernert & Sander

Music and Design
Generative Videos | Reza Ali's six music videos for OK Go
Party Mode | An audio visualizer powered by d3.js and the web audio API
Thru You Too | Collaborative YouTube music video

Design/Data viz
A Disappearing Planet | Interactive look at extinctions around the world
The Bezier Game | A game to help you master the pen tool
Hue Grant | The internet at its finest

See last week's links

Have a nice weekend!
@dubly and @talyellin

First Published: September 19, 2014: 4:15 PM ET

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The fight against Ebola is grossly underfunded

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"Their economies are basically being devastated," said Daniel Epstein, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization. "Economic activity has halted in many areas there. The harvest isn't going on. People can't fly in and fly out."

WHO workers even had difficulty flying into the Ebola-stricken nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, Epstein said.

Related: Ebola patients are buying survivors' blood from the black market

Over 2,600 people have died, according to the latest WHO count. If Ebola is not contained this year, the cost could increase by eight times its current estimate, according to a report published Wednesday by the World Bank Group. Ebola's toll in Liberia alone could affect almost 5% of the country's GDP this year, the World Bank said.

"Our findings make clear that the sooner we get an adequate containment response and decrease the level of fear and uncertainty, the faster we can blunt Ebola's economic impact," said World Bank president Jim Yong Kim in a statement.

Related: History of Ebola outbreaks

In need of aid: The United Nations said this week that $1 billion in aid is needed to contain the Ebola outbreak. But a UN database tally of donations shows that many wealthy Western nations that verbally pledged support have donated paltry sums to fight the disease.

Total donations, including non-binding pledges, to fight Ebola are about $388 million, well under half of the United Nation's estimate, according to data from Financial Tracking Service, a database that tracks humanitarian aid and is managed by the United Nations. The Obama administration announced this week that it hopes to send an additional $500 million in humanitarian aid to the West African nations this fiscal year.

Even with the U.S. government's significant aid proposal, the total number would still fall short of the United Nations' estimate of a billion.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon went as far as saying "our best estimate is that we need a 20-fold increase in assistance" at a meeting this week.

Related: Despite Ebola, CEOs bullish on parts of Africa

Some private foundations have also stepped in. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated over $8 million so far to various organizations to fight Ebola. That is more than the combined donations of Canada, Germany and Spain, according to FTS data.

Overall, the Gates Foundation has pledged $38 million, which eclipses many more countries.

Epstein noted that countries such as Canada contribute to the aid effort in non-monetary ways by sending aid workers and conducting medical research.

"We're also at the stage where people are seeing what the landscape is and figuring out, what's the best way to donate funds?" Epstein said. "In a humanitarian crisis, there are often delays between what people realize what they have to do and what they actually do."

First Published: September 20, 2014: 8:31 AM ET

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GM recalls 205,000 Cadillacs, Impalas

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

On Saturday, the automaker announced it was recalling Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Impalas because of a problem with the electronic parking brake arm in some vehicles.

GM (GM) said it was not aware of any crashes, injuries or fatalities because of the issue.

The affected cars are model year 2013-2014 Cadillac XTS and 2014-2015 Chevrolet Impala sedans. (An additional 16,249 vehicles are being recalled worldwide.)

Related: A decade of guilt over GM crash

It's the latest in a brutal year for the automaker, which has issued more than 65 separate recalls affecting nearly 30 million vehicles.

The largest -- and most tragic -- recall involved a flawed ignition switch in certain small Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn cars. The problem went unreported for a decade and has been tied to at least 19 deaths.

GM recalled 2.6 million cars because of the ignition switch problem. It is paying $35 million to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for its conduct in that case.

First Published: September 20, 2014: 12:10 PM ET

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Hey Occupy Wall Street, abolish my debt too!

Charlene Ingram, a single mother of four, has $125,000 in student loan debt.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Now thousands of people across the country are begging them to forgive their loans, too.

Charlene Ingram is one of them.

A single mother of four from St. Louis, Ingram is 41 and has $125,000 in student loan debt.

After struggling for years to find a job that paid more than minimum wage, she enrolled in an undergraduate program at age 37 -- figuring a bachelor's degree would be her only shot at earning enough to support her family. While she was in school, she and her sons delivered phone books in order to put food on the table.

Upon graduating in 2011, she found a job as a full-time medical assistant. But the job only pays $14 an hour. It's hardly enough to keep up with the basics -- $800 per month in rent, food for her and the kids, utilities, car payments, and medical insurance (which isn't provided through her job) -- let alone the nearly $1,700 a month she owes on her student loans. She said she applied for food stamps but earns $2 an hour too much.

Related: Occupy abolishes $4 million in other peoples' student loan debt

Every time she applies for a higher-paying job, Ingram says she gets turned down because she doesn't have a Master's degree. So she enrolled in a Master's program in health care management in 2012, juggling classes at night and on the weekends. But now she has so much outstanding debt that she hasn't been able to qualify for additional loans and complete the program.

"How do they expect us to survive when you spend all that money for school and still can't get the job that you went to school for and took thousands of dollars in loans?" she said.

Ingram was one of many readers who wrote to CNNMoney seeking Occupy's help with paying back their loans. "Trying to [pay for a] home, food and clothing for us is very hard as a single parent," she wrote. "Please help."

Another reader, Martha Sopher, hasn't been able to work since becoming severely disabled from a car accident three years ago. When she turned 62 last year she immediately applied for Social Security. But because she had defaulted on the more than $200,000 in student loan debt from a graduate program she attended 10 years ago, 15% of her Social Security payments are being garnished each month.

Related: For-profit Corinthian College urged to forgive $500 million in loans

She is still in the process of applying for disability, and her family is helping her pay her living expenses in the meantime.

"I have to skip meals to get by. I skip medications. I don't live, I exist," she wrote. "I made all these wonderful deliberate decisions, worked two jobs more than full-time while I went to college full-time and carried an 'A' average -- but now the dream I worked so hard for is gone forever. I can't take care of my needs and as I age, it will only get worse."

Upon hearing that Occupy Wall Street has been forgiving peoples' debt, she wrote: "I have hope for the first time in a very long time."

But unfortunately, Occupy Wall Street's Strike Debt division -- which is in charge of this initiative -- is unable to abolish a specific person's debt.

Strike Debt says it has received thousands of similar messages from debtors with heartbreaking situations. But the debt purchasing process is random, so while the group can tell a debt collector or broker that it wants to purchase debts from a certain college, it can't find out whose debt it is buying prior to the purchase.

Related: Senior citizens owe $18 billion in student loans

Instead, the group is encouraging people to sign up for its new Debt Collective, which aims to unite medical and student loan debtors so that they can renegotiate debts together and make change on a larger scale.

For debtors in need of more immediate help, nonprofits like the National Consumer Law Center offer resources on their websites about how to attain debt relief or set up payment plans.

And while it's much easier to get relief for federal loans than it is for private loans, the first step in either case is to let the lender know the details of your situation.

"Struggling borrowers need to let their loan holder or servicer know they're having difficulty, rather than just struggle in silence and give up on payment altogether," said Allesandra Lanza, a director at nonprofit American Student Assistance.

First Published: September 19, 2014: 3:15 PM ET

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Post-it note eating insider trader pleads guilty

Who's hungry? Insider trader ate his Post-it notes after passing stock tips.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Frank Tamayo, a 41-year-old Brooklyn man, surrendered Friday morning to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and pleaded guilty in Federal Court in New Jersey.

Prosecutors say Tamayo received information about upcoming corporate deals from Steven Metro, the head clerk at a corporate law firm in New York.

Tamayo then handed that information over to Vladimir Eydelman, a stock broker at Oppenheimer (OPY) and Morgan Stanley (MS). Eydelman in turn used it to trade stocks for Tamayo and other customers.

Metro and Eydelman were charged separately in March.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against all three men.

In an awkward attempt to be stealthy, Tamayo would write a stock ticker on a piece of paper, usually a Post-it note or a napkin, which he would show to Eydelman, indicating that the stock was a buy.

Tamayo would then put the paper in his mouth "and chewed it until it was destroyed," according to prosecutors.

Related: Former SAC manager gets 9 years in prison

The information exchange between Tamayo, a mortgage broker, and Eydelman would take place at locations near his office, including a spot near the clock in New York City's Grand Central Station and a midtown coffee shop.

"Tamayo was the firewall between Metro and Eydelman," said Robert Cohen, an official with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "Metro had the information, Eydelman did the trading, and Tamayo kept them apart."

The scheme started in 2009, when Metro met Tamayo at a bar in New York City and started talking stocks over drinks. According to the SEC, Metro told Tamayo about a $500 million investment Liberty Media planned to make in SiriusXM, which prompted Tamayo to call Eydelman.

Over the next five years, Metro divulged information on at least 13 different deals that his firm, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, was working on, including mergers and acquisitions.

Related: Five famous insider trading cases

Metro found potential inside tips by searching his firm's data base for keywords such as "merger agreement," "bid letter," "engagement letter," and "due diligence."

Eydelman also took steps to cover his tracks. The stock broker would send emails to Tamayo outlining his thoughts on why he recommended buying a particular stock. By sending emails that seemed part of his job and innocuous, prosecutors said, he hoped to leave a paper trail that created the appearance that the trade was based on legitimate research and not inside information.

Tamayo's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

First Published: September 19, 2014: 4:06 PM ET

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Friday Links

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

A weekly collection of design, data and interactive links.

Video
Butter Fingers | Items you might not want to let slip through your fingers
The Sound of COS | Experience the sound of COS in a short film by Lernert & Sander

Music and Design
Generative Videos | Reza Ali's six music videos for OK Go
Party Mode | An audio visualizer powered by d3.js and the web audio API
Thru You Too | Collaborative YouTube music video

Design/Data viz
A Disappearing Planet | Interactive look at extinctions around the world
The Bezier Game | A game to help you master the pen tool
Hue Grant | The internet at its finest

See last week's links

Have a nice weekend!
@dubly and @talyellin

First Published: September 19, 2014: 4:15 PM ET

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Stocks: 5 things to know before the open

U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Alibaba's market debut is fast approaching and Scotland has just voted to remain in the United Kingdom.

Here are the five things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:

1. Alibaba IPO: Investors are eagerly awaiting Alibaba's debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BABA."

The Chinese e-commerce giant, founded by Jack Ma, has made history with the largest U.S.-listed initial public offering of all time.

Shares were priced Thursday at $68, raising $21.8 billion and valuing the company at $168 billion. That's more than double eBay's (EBAY, Tech30) $64 billion market value and even tops the market capitalization of 20-year-old Amazon (AMZN, Tech30).

Friday will mark the first time individual investors can buy a stake in the company.

However, many investors are expressing caution about Alibaba.

"If the company doesn't live up to the hype then it is very likely that [market] enthusiasm will turn sour," said Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at IG. "It needs to show real sales growth not just in China, but the U.S. as well."

2. Scotland is staying: Scotland has voted to remain in the United Kingdom after a polarizing referendum.

The pound spiked versus the U.S. dollar overnight as investors expressed relief that voting trends showed the country would stick together after a tough challenge from pro-independence campaigners. The pound was also strong against the euro.

Some Scottish investors had been buying gold in advance of the referendum as they worried the country would leave and Scotland would be forced to adopt a new currency. Gold prices were edging lower Friday.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

3. More record highs?: U.S. stock futures were all rising before the open -- pointing to new record highs for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rose nearly 0.7% Thursday to close at record levels. The Nasdaq moved 0.5% higher.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

4. Market movers: ConAgra (CAG) shares shot up by about 5% premarket after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

On the other hand, shares of Oracle (ORCL, Tech30) dipped about 2% lower in extended trading after founder Larry Ellison announced he will be stepping down as CEO.

5. Global overview: Asian stock markets made steady gains across the board Friday.

The Nikkei in Japan was particularly strong as the yen weakened.

First Published: September 19, 2014: 2:43 AM ET

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Retirement savings gap widens between rich and poor

In 2013, households in the lowest income bracket had a median savings balance of just $13,000, while those in the top income bracket had median savings of $452,000.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Last year, the typical 55- to 64-year-old household had just $111,000 saved in their 401(k)s and IRAs, which would translate into just $500 a month in retirement income, according to a report from Boston College's Center for Retirement Research that analyzed recent Federal Reserve data.

Related: Retired women: How I'm getting by

But when you break down the savings by income brackets, the numbers look even bleaker.

Households in the lowest income bracket -- those earning less than $39,000 a year -- had a median savings balance of just $13,000. Meanwhile, those in the top income bracket -- those earning $138,000 or more a year -- had a median of $452,000 saved.

And that's a gap that has widened significantly over the past decade.

America's wealthiest saw the value of their median retirement savings grow by 24% between 2004 and 2013, while low-income households couldn't even keep up with inflation as they watched their savings shrink by nearly 20%, according to the Federal Reserve's inflation-adjusted data.

Related: My biggest retirement mistake

Even more alarming: a growing number of low and middle-income households have no retirement savings at all.

Only 9% of the country's lowest income households and roughly half of middle-class families have a retirement savings account, compared to more than 90% of the country's wealthiest households, the Federal Reserve found.

Alicia Munnell, who wrote the Boston College report, said the "depressing" savings levels and rates could be a reflection of stagnant wages and lingering effects of the recession.

According to Munnell, there are ways to help workers save more for retirement, including requiring employers to auto-enroll workers into a retirement plan and increasing the rate at which employers enroll their workers.

Other factors that she says must be addressed include high fees and when savers cash-out of their 401(k)s.

"(Something's) going to have to change," she said. "The question is, 'How long is it going to take?'"

First Published: September 18, 2014: 7:02 PM ET

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U.K. markets rally as Scotland votes to stay

The pound spiked versus the U.S. dollar as traders expected Scotland would vote to stay in the U.K.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The pound was firmer against the U.S. dollar and the euro, recovering some of the ground lost earlier this month when surveys suggested Scotland was on the brink of ending its 307-year union with England.

Results from the historic referendum showed 55% voted against independence in Thursday's ballot, a clearer margin than expected.

Stock markets also rose, with shares in Scottish companies doing particularly well. The FTSE 100 index gained 0.6% in early trading.

"The risk of huge disruption from Scottish independence is gone. Not for good ... but for a considerable time," noted Robert Wood, chief U.K. economist at Berenberg bank. "For now markets can return to normal.

Companies and banks that had warned they may migrate south of the border if Scotland had gone it alone were quick to reassure investors and customers that it was business as usual.

"The announcement we made about moving our registered head office to England was part of a contingency plan to ensure certainty and stability for our customers, staff and shareholders should there be a 'Yes' vote," Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said in a statement. "That contingency plan is no longer required."

Shares in RBS gained 4% in early dealing.

A vote in favor of independence would have ushered in months, if not years, of difficult divorce proceedings over the currency, North Sea oil, U.K. national debt and Scotland's place in the European Union.

Investors feared that the considerable uncertainty would dent business and consumer confidence, hurt growth, slow job creation and hit tax revenues.

The Scotch Whisky Association had said it was concerned about how potential changes in Scottish tax and trade rules could hurt exports to international markets.

Still, market relief will be tempered by the fact that the U.K. government made big concessions in the last days of the campaign, promising to hand over much more power to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

That in turn has sparked a political backlash in England, the consequences of which are unclear. And with a U.K. election just eight months way -- a vote that could lead to a U.K. referendum on EU membership in 2017 -- political risk will remain high for some time to come.

First Published: September 19, 2014: 3:33 AM ET

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Millennials are staying put at mom and dad's place

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Well, they haven't moved out yet.

They also don't seem to be in a hurry to get married, have kids -- or buy a home. And that has pushed the homeownership rate among young adults ages 18 to 34 to a new low of 13.2%, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by Trulia.

Related: Amazing shipping container homes

And that's not great news for the housing market.

Thanks to a sluggish job market, heavy student loan debts and tight lending standards, Millennials are moving out of their folks' homes at a snail's pace. In 2014, 31.1% of 18- to 34-year-olds lived with their parents, down slightly from 31.2% a year prior.

What paints an even grimmer picture is that those who do manage to leave mom and dad's place aren't moving out to form their own households, said Jed Kelko, Trulia's chief economist. Instead of renting or buying a home, they are bunking with friends, siblings or other relatives.

In fact, the headship rate -- or the percentage of people who own or rent their own homes -- fell to 36.6% in 2014 for this group, down from 36.9% a year earlier.

Related: Best cities for Millennial homebuyers

With fewer young people renting or buying homes, fewer new households are being formed, explained Kolko.

According to Trulia's analysis of the Census data, just 425,000 new households were formed last year, a far cry from the estimated 1.2 million that would have been formed had that headship rate not declined.

"Thus, [the] Census data show that the housing market is still struggling to recover," wrote Kolko.

First Published: September 17, 2014: 6:11 PM ET

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Pier 1 Imports shares fall 11%

Foot traffic is down at Pier 1 stores.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Shares plunged as much as 11% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company said profit was nearly cut in half during its most recent quarter.

Pier 1 earned less despite an increase in sales compared to the same quarter last year. CEO Alex W. Smith blamed that on an increase in promotions and the costs associated with online sales. Plus, fewer people are shopping at its stores.

"The paradigm for customer shopping behavior continues to change," Smith said.

He pointed to the jump in online sales, which now make up nearly 10% of overall sales, as a highlight. But that growth is cutting into the company's bottom line in the short-term, due to investments in marketing, staff and the opening of the company's second fulfillment center.

Smith said he was hopeful that an increase in online sales can also help drive traffic at stores. About one-third of online orders are currently picked up at Pier 1 stores and about a quarter of online orders are placed at computers located in the stores.

Shares of Pier 1 Imports (PIR) are down 33% since the beginning of 2014.

First Published: September 17, 2014: 7:05 PM ET

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Alibaba IPO means a big payday for Jack Ma

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

Ma is selling 12.75 million shares in Alibaba's IPO, bringing in as much as $867 million if they are priced at the top of the target range of $66 to $68.

That's no mean way for the Chinese entrepreneur to ring in his 50th birthday, celebrated just a few days ago on Sept. 10.

Ma's remaining 7.8% stake in the company is estimated to be worth about $13 billion. The deal values Alibaba (BABA) itself at $163 billion, slightly bigger than Amazon (AMZN, Tech30).

Alibaba's executive vice chairman Joe Tsai is also selling shares in the IPO that will net him as much as $289 million. His remaining stake in the company is estimated to be worth as much as $5.4 billion.

Related: Meet four kings of Alibaba's online retail empire

Ma and Tsai made their fortunes by building Alibaba into a tech behemoth that does just about everything. The firm runs China's two most popular online shopping sites, Taobao and Tmall, and operates a network of services that allow consumers to process payments, buy movie tickets, get lunch delivered, or invest in a money market fund.

A former English teacher, Ma is something of an unlikely billionaire. He flunked his college entrance exams, was rejected by Harvard, and was snubbed by most people when he first started talking about building an Internet business in China.

Related: Alibaba: All you need to know

But he proved them all wrong, and Alibaba is now on the brink of what could be the biggest IPO in history.

Ma and Tsai are now putting some of their wealth towards philanthropic efforts. In April, they established two trusts funded by share options worth about 2% of the company. The funds are planned to benefit environmental, medical, education and cultural causes in China.

Related: 5 risks for investors buying Alibaba shares

Also poised to win big in the Alibaba IPO is Masayoshi Son, Japan's richest man. He is CEO of telecoms group Softbank (SFTBF), which has seen the value of its original $20 million investment soar to about $54 billion.

Softbank doesn't plan to unload any shares in the IPO.

Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) will sell shares worth as much as $8.3 billion. Its remaining stake could be worth about $27 billion.

First Published: September 17, 2014: 10:13 PM ET

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Top 20 colleges with most billionaire alumni

University of Pennsylvania tops the list of colleges with the most billionaires as undergraduate alumni, according to a Wealth-X and UBS report.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

According to Wealth-X and UBS's "Billionaire Census," University of Pennsylvania tops the list of 20 schools with the highest number of billionaire undergraduate alumni. The rest of the list reads like a laundry list of Ivy League and prestigious U.S. universities.

Some schools beyond the ivory tower of U.S. higher education, like University of Mumbai and Moscow State University, made the cut.

To be sure, not all billionaires went to fancy internationally recognized schools. In fact, 35% of billionaires didn't graduate from college.

It's also worth noting that while these schools top the list, the 2,325 global billionaires received bachelor's degrees from more than 700 universities across the globe.

Take a look to see which schools have the most super rich alums.

First Published: September 16, 2014: 11:05 PM ET

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Billionaire boom: Where the money is now

A new report from Wealth-X and UBS found that the global population of billionaires is at a record high.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That's a 7% jump from 2013, according to the 2014 "Billionaire Census" from Wealth-X and UBS.

So who is your standard billionaire? According to the report, the typical billionaire has about $3.1 billion, is 63 years old, and did not reach the $1 billion threshold until their late 40s.

Almost 90% of them are married, and on average, have two kids a piece.

They like to hang with other billionaires: They have relationships with nine ultra-high net worth individuals, three of whom are billionaires.

They're mostly male: Just 286 of them are women.

They're self-made: About 87% of male billionaires have at least partly made their wealth themselves. Though it's a different story for the women -- just 35% made it themselves. For the rest, it came through inheritance.

They own a lot of stuff: The typical billionaire owns four properties, each worth an average of $23.5 million. About 35% of billionaires have their own private philanthropic foundations, and one in thirty billionaires owns a sports team or a race horse.

Education isn't required: Not all billionaires have a wall full of degrees. In fact, the report states that 35% of global billionaires do not have bachelor's degrees.

For those who did go to college, University of Pennsylvania tops the list of schools with most billionaire undergraduate alumni.

Unsurprisingly, Harvard, Yale and University of Southern California follow, but University of Mumbai and Moscow State University aren't far behind. However, 16 of the top 20 are in the United States.

And where do they live?: Nearly 35% of the world's billionaires are concentrated in 20 cities, only two of which are in the United States. Despite that, the U.S. has the highest number of billionaires, accounting for close to 25% of the world's total billionaire population.

This year alone, there were 57 new American billionaires.

First Published: September 16, 2014: 11:02 PM ET

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